Guidelines for Constructors Constructing double crostics is an intensely personal activity, something like writing a poem. Every word makes a difference, and everyone chooses different words, both in the quote and in the list of words. These guidelines are the product of a few people's experiences, and they necessarily reflect their quirks and preferences. That said, as solvers we all have opinions about what makes a good double crostic. Our hope is that these suggestions will encourage you to try your hand at constructing. FLEXIBILITY IS KEY If the advice of seasoned constructors to newcomers could be distilled into a single word, it would be flexibility. Choose carefully among your quote selections before beginning, rejecting ones with less than ideal features, at least until you are ready for a major challenge. And do not commit to your word choices as you go along. If you think of all the word choices as tentative, you will succeed with less frustration than if you commit to certain words too early, before the end game is in sight. GETTING STARTED Quote Choice. The first step is to choose a quotation. It is important to choose something you like, and for the sake of your audience it should have some "sparkle" (for advice on sparkle, see the article by Manny Nosowsky at http://www.cruciverb.com). One suggestion: if the quote is neither beautiful nor funny, choose another. Another suggestion: choose several passages from a work, in case the first choice is not ideal as a double crostic. Note: as explained further below, the letters of the quote must include all the letters in the author/title acrostic. Beware works by Zola and the Fitzgeralds! An otherwise good quote may even lack a "v" or a "k." Length. The acrostic format is very compressed. Not every great writer pens thoughts that can be adequately captured in a short quotation. For example, Henry James's discursive style is hard to fit into the acrostic form; Mark Twain's aphoristic style works much better. A certain amount of very judicious editing is allowable, provided you are faithful to the author's meaning and intent and do not ruin the style or cadence of the quote. Examples of allowable editing are (a) selecting sentences that are not contiguous, (b) omitting a dependent clause in the middle of a long sentence, and (c) starting in the middle of the sentence, if the truncated quote will make sense. Do the Numbers. The ideal length for an enjoyable double crostic is a matter of personal taste, but the ideal length for a beginning constructor is as short as possible. Make the quote short, the number of clues small, and the average length of an answer about 8. Do everything possible to make your first double crostic easy to solve--it's always harder than you think. The doublecrostic.com program will do the numbers for you. But before you initialize the puzzle, one way to narrow down the choice of a suitable quote is to use your word processing program to count the characters in a proposed quote, minus punctuation (which will not appear in the quote). Think about the author/title acrostic, too. A quote of 160 characters with an author/title acrostic of 20 letters will yield an average word length of 8 letters--the perfect size for a debut double crostic. Vowel Ratio. The vowel ratio (discussed below) is another factor in constructing a double crostic. You will find out what the vowel ratio of your quote is during the initialization process. If you choose a quote with a percentage of vowels close to 40%, then you will find the task of selecting a suitable set of words easier. INITIALIZING THE PUZZLE Puzzle Title. When you're ready to take the plunge, go to the Constructor's Page. The first step is to pick a unique, alphabetic title for the puzzle. This title will be visible to solvers, so decide if you want the title to be a hint as to the content of the quote. Some people like to give a hint, some don't. Choose Initialize and click Go. Fill in the author and a verifiable source for the quotation completely and accurately, including page number and publisher. Author/Title Acrostic. The next important step is to create the author/title acrostic that appears vertically as the first letter of each clue word. The author can be full name, initials and name, or last name only. The title can be the full title, an abbreviated version, or a descriptive phrase if the title is too long or otherwise unsuitable. Keep in mind that the length of the author/title acrostic will help determine the average word length. Quote. Type or paste in the quote. Before you go any further, check and double-check to be sure that the author/title acrostic and the quote are typed accurately and spelled correctly. When all is ready, click Submit. The data will be analyzed to see if they will make an acceptable double crostic. Verification. The puzzle is not yet verified but if all is well, you will see notes to this effect at the bottom of the screen: The quote contains all letters needed for the acrostic Pool:205 Vowels:83 VowelRatio:40 AnswerLen:8.2 Go back and enter yes in verified field if everything is ok and resubmit Click on your browser's Back button, change No to Yes, and click Submit. The resulting screen will indicate that the puzzle is now verified and you can begin to construct the word list. Fixing Errors. It's important to work carefully at this early stage, because once the puzzle has been initialized, it cannot be adjusted. If you discover errors in the author/title acrostic or the quote, you cannot fix them yourself. Either ask Sue (via email) to fix it, or start the initialization process again using a different puzzle name. (If the only problem is missing or extra blank spaces in the quote, just ignore them, and Sue will fix them when the puzzle is complete. If there are extra characters--put them at the end of the first or last answer word and tell Sue. She will be able to test the puzzle with the error and then fix it.) DEVELOPING THE WORD LIST Now the fun begins. Go back to the Member's Website Home Page and select Develop. You will see a listing of all your puzzles in development. On each line, an X will appear corresponding to what you need to do next If this puzzle list with the X's to click on does not show your puzzle, your browser has failed to reload the newly updated page. Sometimes just clicking Refresh will cause it to update. In other cases, you may have to exit and restart the browser. (Probably you need to tell your browser to clear out your temporary storage cache). If you give up in disgust, the next time you use your computer you will notice that magically the page now appears as it should. Puzzle Grid. Click on the X under QA to see the puzzle grid. The quote appears on the left without punctuation but with the appropriate space between words (hyphens will show when you enter and solve the puzzle. They just look like blanks in QA; all other punctuation is ignored, including aprostrophes; the word "isn't" will appear as one word, "isnt"). The acrostic appears vertically down the center. And the pool of available letters appears alphabetically on the right. Before you plunge in, take some time to learn how the grid works. It provides a lot of useful information to the constructor, both veteran and novice. Grid Data. At the top, click on Bigger and Smaller, Alice style, to make the grid a comfortable size for your work. At the bottom of the grid we have the following constantly updated values: a) the total number of letters (including the author/title acrostic) b) the number of clues. c) the number of available letters remaining in the pool d) the number of available vowels remaining e) the current vowel ratio (The initial or latest saved values of items c, d and e also appear at the top of the grid. Thus you can monitor the progress of your vowel percentage.) Using the Grid. Within the grid itself, squares are marked off in red by fours. The vertical yellow line continually marks the current average length of words needed to complete the puzzle. That is, as you make changes, the yellow line moves to reflect the remaining pool of letters. For the alphabetical letter pool, the total count remaining for each letter appears in the white column. Letters appearing in the yellow block occur in the puzzle in a normal distribution. Letters outside the yellow block are oversupplied. Letters that appear in red in the course of constructing are not in the pool, so you must remove them from the word list. These are very general guidelines to help you decide how best to utilize the letter distribution you have. STRATEGIES The time has come to start creating words from the pool of letters in the quote. At this point, everyone differs in his or her approach. The suggestions that follow are aimed especially at novice constructors to keep this fun and make them successful. Once you've done this a few times, your creativity can soar. Easy at First. In order to get started, the solver must be able to fill in about 20% of the answers easily. So a minimum of six clues should be easy for your target audience to answer. If you're trying to make a puzzle for beginning solvers, who sometimes think they need to answer all the clues in order to begin, you may want to make most of the answers appear obvious. Strive to utilize any oversupplied letters early, while you have the most choices. If the puzzle has a long average word length, necessitating the use of multiword answers, choose those first. For many constructors, paying attention to the vowel ratio is a useful way to keep the letter distribution balanced. Straying too far from an overall ratio of 40% means that making words with the final pool of letters will be more difficult. Some constructors see this as a challenge, but for your first few attempts, sticking close to 40% will make it easier to succeed. Stay Focused. Constructing requires great powers of multitasking. More or less simultaneously you must use up oversupplied letters, keep the word length up, don't let the vowel ratio dip too far in either direction, don't repeat anything verbatim from the quote, and think of interesting words. You cannot address these challenges in isolation for too long, so try to work on them all at once, or at least sequentially, word by word, as you construct. Types of Words. Constructors' tastes vary widely in the kinds of words they like to use. Here is a list of common, relatively uncontroversial choices: a) Single-word answers to dictionary-style definitions. b) Fill-in-the-blank quotations from well-known published sources, lyrics, titles, with attribution to the author in the clue. c) Taxonomical words, in which the clue is a well-defined class, and the answer is a specific member. Examples: 20th-century American writer, European songbird. Although this type of clue could, in principle, be solved by using the right reference tool-- whether it is a search engine, a concordance or full-text search, or even a good computer program--for many solvers the perfect puzzle is one that is challenging enough to tempt them to look something up, but not so difficult that they cannot manage to resist that urge and solve the puzzle without assistance. Other types of clues are more controversial and beg indulgence from your audience in one way or another. Constructors use such debatable clues to make the puzzle harder, or more interesting, or just to make all the necessary letters fit. The types you choose are subject to your personal preferences. If the preferences of your audience don't mesh with yours, they will not enjoy your puzzles. These types include: a) Obscure words. b) Commonly used words not found in standard dictionaries--for example, online jargon. c) Multiple-word phrases commonly used in speech or writing but without a specific text reference--that is, common idioms. d) "Made-up" phrases coined by the puzzle constructor to use up letters. e) Brand names and trademarks. It is wise not to overuse debatable words in your puzzles. And warning the solver that a clue or answer is debatable by ending the clue with a ? is a good idea. Editors of traditional printed puzzles will reject puzzles containing the debatable type of clues, especially made-up phrases. End Game. If you’ve followed the suggestions here so far, you should have half a dozen or so words left to complete, an average word length no longer (and preferably shorter) than you started with, and a pool of letters that is manageable in terms of its distribution. This is the nerve-wracking part: getting every last letter to fit into the puzzle. Keep in mind the amazing breadth and depth and flexibility of the English language, keep telling yourself it can be done, and repeat the next most important watchword of constructing double crostics: PATIENCE--and plenty of it. Also, for novice constructors, help is an email away. Sue is always ready to assist if you get stuck. Work slowly, don’t hurry. Be flexible: be willing to take out a few words for the sake of reshuffling the letter distribution. Put the puzzle away and come back to it for a fresh perspective. You’ll be amazed how, with patience and persistence, things eventually click into place. WRITING DEFINITIONS Once the word list is in place, for many people, the hard part is over and the real fun begins with the definitions. This stage of constructing is less constrained by the puzzle format and immediately open to imaginative ideas. But keep in mind the principle that 20% of the answers must be very accessible to solvers to make the puzzle enjoyable. Go back to the listing of all your puzzles in development, showing the stages completed. The puzzle is now at the DEFN stage. Click on the X under DEFN to see the Definitions page. (If there is no X to click on, refresh the puzzle development page. If that doesn't make the X's appear, you may have to exit and restart your browser.) You will see your word list with space for definitions, as well as the following guidelines: Clue levels are S for standard, E for easy, and H for hard. Every puzzle must have 1/5 of its letters from easy clues. For an easy puzzle, at least 1/3 should be from easy clues. Easy, What's Easy? As you write your definitions, you will also rate them as S, E, or H. The program will prompt you for more easy definitions if you do not provide the minimum 20%. (Note: these percentages are not enforced: they are just guidelines and can be ignored). You can either type in or paste in the definitions. You can call up the screen multiple times and make corrections after you test. If you experience any difficulty with punctuation in the definitions, remove everything but the letters and spaces. Descriptors are important. It's a good idea to put in the descriptors first, before you get involved in writing the definitions: a) Indicate multiple-word answers as (2w) and hyphenation as (hyph). b) Indicate a phrase with one or more compound words: Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum (3w,hyph) c) Indicate variant (var) and obsolete (obs) and foreign language (e.g., Fr) where appropriate. d) Since the definitions are unnumbered, if two definitions are related, identify them with * or **. Click Go at the bottom of the definitions to save your work. You can do this more than once, but remember to refresh or reload the page if it does not seem to show your latest changes. No Surprises. As you work, check the dictionary often as well as other sources to verify titles, quotations, historic facts and dates, etc. Each of us has been surprised by so-called facts we thought we knew well. Who Says? There is much that could be said about writing definitions, and members of the Double Crostic web site have said a lot. The reviews of puzzles completed are a good source of feedback on what people think about specific definitions. The Forum discusses these issues in a general way. Also, the web site includes a useful article called "What is a Word?" Be creative, and have fun! FINISH When you are satisfied with your definitions and have saved your work, then go back to the listing of all your puzzles in development, showing the stages completed. a) See - Click the X under See at any point to see the letters and clues in your puzzle. b) Xref - Click the X under Xref. The Xref step connects the letters in the clue grid with the letters in the quote grid. Sometimes it makes a poor choice, assigning two different letters from one quote word to the same answer word. c) Fix - Click the X under Fix. The Fix step attempts to correct any poor xref decisions. You may need to run Fix several times. Let me know if you have a Dirty Double Crosser that needs further changes. (a letter in a difficult quote word is mapped to a letter in a difficult answer word). You will not know about this until you try the next step, testing. d) Test - Click the X under Test. The puzzle is now ready for the first test (the Alpha test in computer programmer jargon). It's a very pleasant moment to see your puzzle finally completed. You will see your puzzle up and ready to be solved. You are the Alpha tester. Read through the definitions to make sure they are complete and accurate. Fill in the answers, and make sure everything is working as it should. Email Sue about any problems. e) Print - (optional) If you want a solvable printout of your puzzle (with numbers!), click each X under Print to see which formats apply. You may need to mimimize your page margins (Click File; Page Setup) to print. There are two one page formats - double-column and single column, or cluebox and quote may be printed separately. Large puzzles may be illegible in the single page formats. f) Beta - Click the X under Beta. This requests testing by a second person, usually Sue. Send me an email if I do not get back to you in a few days after you complete your first puzzle. Interpretation of some common Reviewer's Codes E - Easy, obvious answers - must cover over 20% of clues (and letters) G - Good clue, both answer and definition M - Made-up phrase - no text reference; not a common idiom R - Rare answer word, requires using reference works D - Definition needs improvement; answer is ok S - Spelling error in the definition or the answer W - Word count is wrong or missing, e.g. (3w) H - Hyphenated designation needed (hyph) Sue may send an email reviewing the puzzle,or simply schedule it if it is acceptable. Sometimes Sue will make minor corrections. If more work is needed, I will ask you to do it or I will suggest that I do it myself. In some cases, the puzzle will be rejected,. As far as corrections are concerned, Sue tries to accommodate the preferences of each constructor. Some constructors say "If there's anything you don't like, don't bother me, just fix it." Others say "Don't change anything with my name on it without consulting me, but let me know if you have a helpful suggestion." Yet others say "If you find something unacceptable, tell me what it is; it's my job to replace it with something better." Sometimes, however, if a puzzle is scheduled very soon, the luxury of consulting time is not available. SCHEDULE If the puzzle is found acceptable, the final step is to schedule it for publication. You will receive an email like this: Your puzzle bean will appear 2003-11-19 as number 652 barring schedule changes. FEEDBACK As you know from solving puzzles on the Double Crostic web site, solvers can provide feedback on each puzzle. These reviews are available to any member who solves the puzzle. The comments are emailed to the constructor, to the commenter, and to Sue, in addition to being visible to members who solve the puzzle. It's sometimes helpful--and illuminating--to find out what people think of your work. Finally, we encourage you to try constructing double crostics. Good luck, and email any time for help. This document pulls together ideas expressed by Sue Gleason, Chris McShane, Jean Reno, Barry Tunick, and others on this web site. Some material was inspired by Manny Nosowsky and others at cruciverb.com. Please email suggestions for additions and changes to this document to dblx@doublecrostic.com Main Page Copyright by Sue Gleason April 3, 2001; Last modified: June 1, 2006